No Other Option
by Brown-eyed Wolf
Summary: Everything would be so much sweeter, simpler if he could get her to just admit it; he knew she felt something for him but she needed to acknowledge it before he could act. "I just want you to be honest with me, just once." Klaroline. A moment of honesty between a Psychotic Hybrid and a young Vampire.


**A/N: Klaus and Caroline just have _something_ that makes me want to write about them. This one just happened. Set at the end of 4x13. Hope you enjoy!**

 ** _No Other Option_**

The smell of his blood elongated her fangs instantly; her body reacting to the only thing on this world that could pull her back from certain imminent death. She felt his hand smooth down her hair as she suckled at his wrist, greedily gulping down what he offered her. Klaus' chin rested gently upon her head and she could feel his heart racing against her back – he murmured comforting words over and over as she drank. _"Shhh, love, take as much as you need."_ As the pain ebbed slowly away, and as her wounds, both stab and bite, healed, a wave of exhaustion swept over her body. Turns out being on the brink of death was a pretty tiring experience. With a flick of her tongue, to wipe up the remains of the blood on his wrist, Caroline all but collapsed against Klaus, her back flush with his chest. His arms encircled her, cradling her softly against him in a manner that was almost protective. It was enough to make her choke out a sad laugh.

He bent his head closer to her ear, "What is it, love?" He sounded as exhausted as she felt.

"You make no sense." Caroline's voice was breathy and quiet and his arms tightened around her waist in response. "I never know if you want to kiss me or kill me." She was so tired of this all; so tired of fighting with everyone. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted to believe in Klaus. Caroline wanted there to be humanity underneath that murderous exterior, and sometimes, she even got to see it. However, glimpses of kindness or mercy in the Hybrid were few and far between, and almost always only for her sake. It made the events of today, namely, Klaus almost killing her to make a point to Tyler, even more traumatising. The trials and tribulations of having a psychopathic Hybrid love you.

She felt more than heard the sigh come out of his mouth, and one of his hands came to her cheek as he stroked a stray curl. "Honestly, love, sometimes it'd be so much simpler if I _could_ just kill you." The curl bounced in his fingers as he twirled it mindlessly, managing to be affectionate and menacing at the same time. Her eyebrows knotted in confusion and she leaned back to look at him clearly.

"That. Makes. No. Sense."

A breathy chuckle in response. "Caroline. My siblings and myself have been the only things I've cared about for over a thousand years. I know you hate what I've done with my time, but it didn't matter to me, as long as we survived and were together. And now." His eyes burned into hers, lips tugging up on one side in a sad smile. "I have something else to care about. Someone very. . . breakable." The hand around her waist ghosted briefly higher, just under her breast, where any old splinter would take her instantly from this world. His face was grim at the contemplation. "It's a weakness that you and your friends have exploited so many times, even tonight."

Caroline squirmed a little in his hold, uncomfortable with his touch but still much too weak to extract herself from his arms. She understood the irony as she huffed, "I'm _not_ breakable."

A grin. A full blown grin graced his stony features and she was momentarily taken aback by the amusement in it. "Compared to me, love, you're like a china doll." Moving her blond waves gently to expose her neck, Klaus' eyes roamed greedily over the faded wound on her neck, the place where his canines had pierced her delicate skin and spilled her intoxicating blood. "One bite, one splinter, and you'd be no more."

Shivers shot down her spine at his attentions; she had to fight herself from melting into him as he held her like one would a partner - intimately. It was the exhaustion, that was all, she was just _so tired_ _._ "I don't know what you think being in love with someone means, but around here, we don't try to kill, _multiple times_ , people we love." She tried to sit up in her annoyance but the effort was too much for her and the room started to spin. Klaus coaxed her back into his arms, supporting her head against his shoulder. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, Caroline mused that Klaus was far too comfortable and had had far too many opportunities for holding her. She really needed to stop being nearly killed by his werewolf venom.

Klaus' voice was quiet in her ear, "If I kill you, sweetheart, then no one else will." She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, and he hurried to explain his thinking before she began one of her tirades. "People know I care about you, Caroline. I haven't hid my affections." At that he nuzzled into her slightly, causing her to frown uncomfortably. "And as long as there are people trying to hurt me, there will be people trying to hurt you."

Caroline tried to wiggle her neck away from Klaus's ministrations, beyond exasperated. "So you're telling me that because of you I have a target on my back? _Great._ "

Continuing, despite her object annoyance, to explain himself. "If I were the one to end your life, love, then no one could use you as leverage against me; no one could hurt you."

She shook her head as savagely as she could manage. "That's ridiculous logic. Then _you'd_ be hurting me." He honestly had too many screws loose to count, she was sure. Who even thinks like that? _Oh, that's right, murderous lunatics._

Turning her head slightly so he could look into those eyes that wouldn't leave his mind, he pressed on. "But then I'd be able to control how you died, you wouldn't ever have to be subjected to torture or torment. I could be merciful with you, _gentle_." His lips were just barely skimming against her forehead, brushing it as he spoke in calm tones about killing her.

She gripped his hand resting on her collarbone tightly, not quite sure if she wanted to shove it off her or break it. "You asked me, that first time, whether I wanted you to kill me. I said _no_. I don't _care_ if I get tortured or hurt, _life hurts._ I just want a chance to live." She'd barely even seen any of the world; barely had any adventures of her own that didn't revolve around managing to save Elena, or Stephan or Damon or Bonnie. She needed more time than people kept trying to give her.

Klaus could see the frustrated gears turning in her head; musing over all of the things she hasn't had the time to do; the things that she isn't even aware that she _wants._ "I wouldn't worry about me too much, sweet. I seem to be unable to harm you." At her unladylike snort, he added, "Permanently, at least." A smirk fell upon his face as he thought about what _he wanted_. "You know, I've confided in you quite a lot tonight."

"Since you tried to kill me, none too _gently_ ," a significant look, "I'd say you owed it to me." She turned her head back to stare directly in front of her, at the unthreatening and normal dining room setting before her. It was much safer to look at then the gleaming-eyed Hybrid who was _cuddling_ her to him. Caroline was very aware that as they were, to any stranger, it would appear that they were _together._ Possibly fighting, having a spat, but still, together. That in itself was enough to make her bristle.

Klaus, too, was aware at how they appeared and he was enjoying himself immensely now that Caroline wasn't seconds from death. His closeness, his caresses, threw her off balance and he was planning to use that to every advantage. "Come on, sweetness, fair is fair. One question, then you can go to sleep like you desperately want to."

At his words her bones ached for the peaceful oblivion of sleep – she wanted it desperately. He was a conniving and wicked son of a witch, but she'd gotten out of more than one uncomfortable question from him before. Deciding it was worth the cost, she mumbled, "Whatever, Klaus. What do you want to know?"

No preamble; "Do you want to kiss me or kill me?"

The question took her completely by surprise, though she supposed, it was just like him to ask that kind of a question. To pit her own musings against her while she was bone-tired and lying against him helpless. "What?" Perhaps if she acted incredulous enough he would take that as an answer.

He shifted her so that they were facing each other, faces a little too close for Caroline's comfort. At this distance it would be almost too easy for him to push his advantage. A wicked kind of amusement shone in his bright blue eyes – as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "If you were able to, right now, would you kill me or kiss me?"

 _Play dumb, play dumb._ "Why would you even _ask_ that?" Her voice was too high to her own ears and she was sure she was half a step away from having a panic attack.

Klaus seemed to find her flustered appearance amusing. "Frankly, Caroline, you know how I feel about you. You said it not too long ago. I'm in love with you." She sucked in a sharp breath at his admission, never thinking that he'd actually confess to her outright. It was one thing to confront him with your suspicions, but to have them confirmed unabashedly, was entirely different. _He loved her,_ tried to kill her and everyone she knew, but _loved her._ It sounded so unbelievably strange – they were so very _very_ different. "But, your stance on me is much more. . . unreadable. Sometimes you treat me like you'd like nothing better than to find a white oak stake and slam it through me." She nodded enthusiastically at that. "But, sometimes, I catch you looking at me," he voice lowered to a husky rumble, "Flushing, _wanting_." His voice was ghosting through every bone in her body. "Which one, sweet, do you want?"

The words came out in a rush as she tried to shake his _effect_ from her mind. He was just so damn good at manipulating her that sometimes she didn't even realise he was doing it. "I _don't_ have a white oak stake and I have a boyfriend and you can't just _ask_ me that."

Klaus' hand crept up her arm gently until he cupped her neck in his palm, her pulse racing like a hummingbird. She was terrified. "I was honest with you, love." She was about to protest but he cut her off. "All I want to know, Caroline," her name purred from his throat, "is if you feel this too, this _connection_." Her breathing was quick and shallow as his eyes bore into hers and she was chanting _no, no, no, no_ over and over in her head. Klaus watched as her fingers trembled in her lap.

"I won't force you, love, you know that. I could have compelled you to want me," His imagination almost ran away with him as the image of her undressing for him at his request came to mind. "But, I want you exactly as you are. Choosing for yourself." The hand not cupping her neck ran roughly through his hair, pulling as it went. Everything would be so much sweeter, simpler if he could get her to just admit it; he knew she felt something for him but she needed to acknowledge it before he could act. "I just want you to be honest with me, just once."

Eyes, eyes that she had spent so long trying to avoid, implored her, begged her. Honesty, once, was it really such a horrible thing? Just once? Looking at Klaus now with something that looked very much like hope in his eyes, was tearing down her defences as if they were made of feathers. She would have to tell him the truth, but she didn't have to do it nicely. "You're a murderer, and you've threatened and maimed nearly everyone I care about. You're impulsive and have _such_ a temper and you hold grudges, Klaus, for so long. The people you love you've _staked for centuries_ and you make _no sense._ " His face was closing off at her tirade, anger seeping in. The fingers that were pressed teasingly against her neck were bruising her. "I should have stopped trying to find the good in you a long time ago. But," a deep shaking breath, "I haven't given up just yet. You can love, Klaus, in a twisted and sometimes life-threatening way, but you can. And I'm going to keep searching for the good that you keep buried; I want the Klaus that _helps and cares and thanks me for yelling at him because at least it was honest._ " The words were out there; she couldn't take them back now no matter how hard she might want to.

His stare was unfathomable and intense. "You… want me?"

Caroline rolled her eyes in annoyance; of _course_ that was the only part he would hear. "You're still a psychotic murderer who is running my boyfriend out of town," she reminded him bitterly.

"But, you want me?" His body was tense, his blood rushing through his veins and roaring through his ears.

He was incorrigible. "Yes, but-"

In a flash his lips were on hers in a searing kiss – his fingers knotted in her hair and crushed her to him like she was his only reason for being. The kiss was almost reverent, desperate and not at all gentle, but she could feel his joy; his hope. That, however, didn't stop her from biting him solidly on the lip with her fang. He pulled back, startled, to look at the young vampire and at the sight of her descended fangs and hungry eyes, he _had_ to kiss her again. There was simply no other option.


End file.
